Since the attack at Ohio State University, lawmakers have offered solutions they believe would prevent such scary events. Recently, state Rep. Charlie Collins (R-Fayetteville) argued that all Arkansas colleges should be forced to allow the presence of loaded, hidden guns on campus, because shooters intentionally pick so-called "gun-free zones" like college campuses to wage attacks.

However, an analysis by Everytown for Gun Safety found that only 14 percent of mass shootings from 2009-2015 took place in so-called "gun-free zones." Of the at least 133 mass shootings since 2009, only two occurred at a college or university. Lawmakers like Collins are relying on this false notion of exaggerated vulnerability to carry out the gun lobby's aim to allow guns into as many places as possible with no questions asked.

In 2013, our legislature passed a law allowing faculty and staff with concealed carry permits to be armed at our colleges and universities, with the condition that institutions could choose to opt out of the law annually. Three years later, every single Arkansas college has continuously chosen to keep guns off their campuses — and they have good reason to do so.

While some may believe that only a good guy with a gun can stop a bad one, the fact is most civilians have not received law enforcement training on how to respond to active shooter incidents and severely lack the expertise required to stop a shooter.

What's more, allowing the presence of guns on campus would burden campus police and other first responders with the task of having to quickly decipher during a violent incident if a person holding a gun is a "good guy" or criminal.

If you believe our lawmakers should respect the decisions of our campus communities and ensure that Arkansas colleges continue to remain safe spaces in which to learn, I urge you to join Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America. There is simply too much at stake to back down now.

Eve Jorgensen

Little Rock

Congressional perks

Did you know Congress works 10 months out of the year, taking the entire months of August and October off? Sixty days of vacation? Do you get that much? Did you know that in the 10 months they are in session they average three workdays a week? They get four-day weekends every weekend. Do you get this?

Robert Johnston

Little Rock

Lawn commandments

Governor Hutchinson signed the bill putting the Ten Commandments on the Capitol lawn. He's a lawyer and knew it wouldn't pass the Supreme Court. But before he was a lawyer, he and his wife were graduates of the fundamentalist Bob Jones University. He won't publicly admit that now, but it still compels him to sign bills by religious nuts that he knows to be illegal.

Sen. Jason Rapert (R-Conway) says the Ten Commandments are the basis of American law. Some questions: Please show me where the Ten Commandments made the genocide of the Native Americans OK? Where did it authorize the Trail Of Tears? Where did it make the Salem Witch Trials OK? Which commandment made slavery OK? Where did Jim Crow get authorized? Where did it make the internment of innocent Japanese Americans morally right?

For that matter, where did it say torture and secret prisons under George W. Bush was OK? The simple fact is that Rapert is a phony who is pushing his religion on us with the lie that our government was built on the Ten Commandments. The above stated proves that!

And our governor is complicit in that effort because he signs such bills out of religious compulsion or to get the cooperation of his fellow fundamentalists in his "save the rich folks' money" administration.

Time will bear out what I'm writing here, I believe. Not to mention the taxpayers' money it will cost us in the courts.

Karl Hansen

Hensley

From the web

In response to Best and Worst 2016

Always the best read of the year.

Claude Bahls

The best read of the worst year.

Yellowdogdaughter

Rapert is gonna be pissed he did not get a mention ... or did I miss it?

Arbiter of All Things AOAT

In response to an article in the Dec. 15 issue about the medical marijuana commission:

I have some concerns about how a commission [whose members] voted against medical cannabis and were appointed by opponents of medical cannabis will be able to make fair, unbiased decisions that would best benefit and meet the needs of seriously ill patients. Alleviating unnecessary suffering is what this law is supposed to be about. It sounds like the commission still wants to continue the arguments for and against it. Dr. Ronda Henry-Tillman said "not everyone in the state voted for it and we have to be conscious of that." What has that got to do with anything? The majority of the state voted for medical cannabis. Period. There wasn't a rule that said you had to cater to the minority that was against it. Does this mean the commission is going to dilute the law and only halfway honor the "will of the people"? Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by 2 million people in the presidential election. Do you think Donald's new Cabinet members are looking for ways not to offend or hurt those 2 million voters? I was wondering about the comment that the commission can also impose fees and receive revenue from other sources. Will these fees and revenue be available to the public? I have a hard time believing that Speaker of the House Jeremy Gillam did not receive any applications [for the commission] from attorneys who have experience in state rules and regulations. You would think Little Rock, the capital of Arkansas, would have an overabundance of them.